YEREVAN, August 15. /ARKA/. The increasing Armenian wine sales in Russia are one of reasons for planting new vineyards in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor province, Governor Edgar Ghazaryan said Wednesday at a news conference.

In his words, Vayots Dzor and other provinces’ winemakers who use Areni grapes in their industry are gradually increasing their exports to CIS countries and especially to Russia.

“This ensures sales of Areni grapes, which are, in addition, are sold at a higher price than other varieties of grapes,” he said. “Thanks to successful sales, both farmers and individual investors are interested in planting new vineyards.”

In 2013, 240,900 tons of grapes were harvested in Armenia – a slight decline, compared with the previous year when 241,400 tons were gathered.